Mathematics

Curriculum offer:

The mathematics curriculum at Orion Mead Road reflects the undeniable importance of the subject and concepts within it both at school within our learning and beyond in our everyday lives and the world around us.

Every child develops their knowledge, skills and understanding of mathematical concepts. Through real-life contexts, we equip our children with the essential mathematical understanding they require in their everyday lives now and for the future.

Our mathematics curriculum offer is one that encourages deeper thinking through building on fluency with reasoning and problem-solving embedded throughout our lessons. Children are actively encouraged to use manipulatives readily available to them in all our classrooms and they use these to both support and extend their understanding of taught concepts.

Our aim is to ensure all children are engaged with mathematics and to provide them the support or depth of learning they require, whilst having fun and enjoying their learning.

Why Meticulous Maths? 

We use Meticulous Maths to ensure that all pupils have a sound knowledge of number facts, have conceptual and procedural fluency and a comprehensive understanding of the four operations taught. Pupils are encouraged to select the most appropriate method to solve arithmetic, reasoning and problem-solving questions. The NCETM guidance is embedded through our curriculum as well White Rose which encourages Mastery in each Mathematical topic. Meticulous Maths is designed to give all children the depth of learning and support they need to participate in, make progress in, and enjoy maths. Based on clear progression, an easy-to-follow sequence of tasks develops children’s knowledge, fluency and understanding with suggested prompts, actions and questions to give all children opportunities for deep learning with reasoning and problem-solving built in at all stages throughout the scheme.

Aims 

Orion Mead Road and the National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Implementation:

Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

• Daily arithmetic practice (focus on number bonds, addition and subtraction in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2)
• Provide a curriculum which is spiral in design ensuring that objectives are revisited and deepened as the year progresses but also ensures progression from year to year, with each year group’s learning building on the previous year’s learning.
• High expectations of learning times tables and their related division facts from the end of Year 2 so children are best placed to move to their new school for KS2 with a strong starting point
• CPA approach embedded within our curriculum builds on children’s existing knowledge introducing abstract concepts in a concrete way and tangible way. We structure our lessons and learning in such a way that children develop their understanding by progressing from concrete materials to pictorial representations to abstract symbols and problems.
• Progression of mathematical vocabulary (by year group) informs the way all adults speak, question and communicate with children. Mathematical vocabulary is also built into tasks, with new vocabulary being introduced and discussed at the start of every new unit.

Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.

• Provide a coherent teaching and assessment spine with problem-solving and reasoning built in throughout.
• Prior knowledge pre-requisites and pre-emptive teaching (where required) to address gaps, prepare children and recap on content if needed.
• High-quality supplementary resources – agreed upon by maths lead and SLT – to provide additional varied fluency, reasoning and problem-solving opportunities to compliment
  Meticulous Maths (primarily: White Rose Maths, Deepening Understanding and NCETM).
• Questioning tailored and targeted to encourage independent thinking, identification of patterns & relationships, scaffolding to access problems, challenge to deepen thinking & understanding.

Can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

Orion Lesson Framework Breakdown
Lessons follow a consistent structure using the Orion Lesson Framework, ensuring clarity, progression, and strong learning outcomes.

Retrieve

A chance for children to revisit prior learning and for adults to identify and address any misconceptions. This reinforces foundational skills and prepares pupils for new content.

Activate

The teacher introduces the learning intention and key vocabulary, ensuring all pupils understand the purpose and focus of the lesson.

Instruct - I do

The teacher models the new learning, demonstrating the steps to success. This stage provides clear, explicit instruction so every child knows what successful learning looks like.

Practice - We do

Children engage in guided practice through scaffolded tasks. They may work with partners, in groups, or as a whole class. A range of appropriate manipulatives and resources supports deeper understanding and skill development.

Embed - You do

Pupils independently apply their new learning to demonstrate understanding. Teachers provide ongoing feedback and live marking to secure strong conceptual grasp and address misconceptions promptly.

Review

Learning intentions are used to assess progress. This may involve teacher assessment, self‑assessment, or peer assessment to reflect on learning and next steps.

Impact:

• A spiral approach to the mathematics curriculum at Orion Mead Road ensures all children revisit objectives, build on their prior knowledge & understanding and progress through the national curriculum expectations with regular opportunities to apply their understanding to fluency, reasoning and problem-solving contexts.
• Children can recognise and apply taught concepts in real-world contexts and see the purpose and benefit of what they learn in the wider world – not just within maths lessons and school.
• Children are confident in their understanding and application of the fundamentals of mathematics.
• Children develop their conceptual understanding and their ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.
• Children reason mathematically, applying appropriate vocabulary correctly within their mathematical responses to problems.
• Children solve problems of increasing complexity & sophistication, knowing how to independently approach and solve them.
• Children enjoy their mathematics lessons!
• Consistently high outcomes in KS1 SATs in mathematics.

Calculation Policy